Whiskey and Rum
by Shakespeare 6.7
Summary: Together they create the perfect balance. For the lj 1sentence challenge. Theme set Beta


**_Disclaimer: I don't own Romeo and Juliet or any of the characters associated. They belong to William Shakespeare, I'm just twisting them to fit my whims and fantasies._**  
**_A/N: Hey guys, I'm back. Here's the next installment of my challenge series. I hope y'all enjoy this, and please review!_**

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**1. Walking**

The long walks they take in the Montague gardens serve two purposes: for one it's wonderful exercise, and since no one is looking for them, they can do whatever they'd like together.

**2. Waltz**

All it takes is a shared glance and a few well placed missteps before the two of them run into each other on the dance floor, but when Romeo jokingly forces them share the next dance, they don't certainly object as a slow waltz begins.

**3. Wishes**

Benvolio has never been one to wish for anything, having always found it more satisfying to work for what he wants, but sometimes he wishes Mercutio would send him the same coy smile he gives the ladies of Verona.

**4. Wonder**

Escalus doesn't understand why Mercutio is so determined to help a young boy covered in bruises, both old and new, get back on his feet, but Benvolio doesn't have to wonder, because he remembers when he would see similar patterns on Mercutio's skin after a night with his father.

**5. Worry**

Mercutio has never been one to worry, always accepting life as it comes and going with the flow: however, he finds that once he holds something as precious as Benvolio's heart in his hands worry poisons his mind, because he can't mess this up.

**6. Whimsy**

It's all so whimsy really, a vast field of passion and love and gentle touches, almost like a dream: the moment Tybalt's blade disappears into Mercutio Benvolio knows it's not a dream anymore.

**7. Waste/Wasteland**

It's his wedding night and the woman he's been forced to marry is more than ready, but Benvolio can't bring himself to do it, because his heart has been nothing but a barren wasteland since he lost Mercutio.

**8. Whiskey and Rum**

Benvolio is smooth like fine whiskey while Mercutio is more like the sharp taste of rum: together, they create a perfect balance.

**9. War**

Mercutio knows that he is teetering on the edge of falling into the war that consumes Verona's inhabitants: for Benvolio, he will leap in head first.

**10. Weddings**

Everyone else looks at them strange, but Romeo just smiles knowingly after Benvolio walks around one day wearing white with Mercutio next to him the entire time and nobody sees either of them for the next week.

**11. Birthday**

Benvolio's birthday is a whirl of laughter, color, and music, but after the party is over and everyone has long since gone to bed, Mercutio scales the walls and climbs up onto Benvolio's balcony for a more… _private_ celebration.

**12. Blessing**

Mercutio has never really thought of himself as blessed, with his mother dead before he reached ten and an abusive father, but Benvolio proves all that wrong.

**13. Bias**

Mercutio will never admit it of course, but he has felt much more inclined to spend time with Benvolio than Romeo of late: while Romeo will try to draw him into conversation, Benvolio will just sit there and read while Mercutio commits every one of his features to memory.

**14. Burning**

Mercutio has never been able to lie to Benvolio, so when he tells the blonde that the wound is just a scratch, Benvolio immediately knows that his world is about to burn to ashes.

**15. Breathing**

His nightmare consist of the one moment that Tybalt will get a lucky jab in, but the sound of Mercutio breathing next to him always brings his racing heart back to normal.

**16. Breaking**

He knows his demise will shatter the hearts of everyone the feud has left behind, but he's been fractured since the day Mercutio's soul slipped through his fingers, and now he's broken completely.

**17. Belief**

Mercutio's never really been a devout Christian, but he prays to any god who can hear that he will never inflict the lovesick pain on Benvolio that Romeo seems to spend his entire life in.

**18. Balloon**

He feels as if he is a balloon floating high above the people, and every little kiss Mercutio places on his chest only serves to drive him higher.

**19. Balcony**

Cool autumn night air kisses his skin as he sits on the railing of his balcony, swinging his legs over the edge: he's really not that cold, but when his blonde _cheré_ wraps his arms around him and presses up against him, he makes no move to push him away.

**20. Bane**

Sometimes Benvolio wonders if the universe created Mercutio to captivate him completely and tantalize him with the one thing he believes he can never have.

**21. Quiet**

Mercutio is rarely quiet, and Benvolio has found that sometimes the only way to get him to shut up is to kiss him into silence.

**22. Quirks**

Mercutio is a man of many annoying quirks, such as his tendancy to blather on and on about anything that strikes his fancy, but Benvolio doesn't mind: he could listen to Mercutio talk about absolutely nothing and still be completely captivated.

**23. Question**

He has a whole speech planned out, but when the time actually comes the only thing he can remember is the question, so he just blurts it out as fast as he can, and Benvolio somehow understands, because he's being kissed the next second.

**24. Quarrel**

They aren't the perfect couple: in fact they fight constantly, but they quarrel as best friends do, and they both love the make up sex afterwards.

**25. Quitting**

If there is one thing Mercutio is not he is not a quitter, and he will not rest until Benvolio is his.

**26. Jump**

Whether it's sitting and listening to his lover spin his fairy tales or risking everything he has on a relationship, Benvolio will always make the jump for Mercutio, whatever it may be.

**27. Jester**

Mercutio will always be a joker, forever mocking one thing or another, that mischievous glint in his eyes: all traces of that glint disappear when he tells him he loves him, but reappears as he slowly works his hand down Benvolio's trousers.

**28. Jousting**

Mercutio and Romeo engage in verbal jousting all the time, a battle of wits and words, and as much as he loves to win these games in any case, he won't deny that he puts in a bit more effort when Benvolio is present.

**29. Jewel**

Every touch Mercutio traces on his skin is like a gemstone embedded in his skin, so by the time the night is over Benvolio feels like a lady decked in the finest jewels.

**30. Just**

Benvolio knows that the law is just, good, and true, but if it would condemn both Mercutio and himself for what they have, then he wants no part of it.

**31. Smirk**

He sees the smirk on Mercutio's face and knows that there will be no visits from Queen Mab tonight.

**32. Sorrow**

He watches from above as the people go about their business, complaining about their miserable lives: personally, Mercutio thinks no sorrow compares to that of being forced to leave your love all too soon.

**33. Stupidity**

Mercutio is smiling like crazy and stumbling down the street after a night of drunken revelry: Benvolio gives him a good natured noogie and tells the brunette that he's an idiot.

**34. Serenade**

Benvolio sneaks into the palace one night and serenades his lover, and while Mercutio is not a maiden to stand on a balcony and blush, he can't deny the red tinge rising on his cheeks of the blood flowing quickly downward when Benvolio begins to climb to him.

**35. Sarcasm**

Frankly Benvolio would have rather spent a quiet night at home dreaming about Mercutio, but when the brunette showed up under his window too drunk to understand sarcasm, he gladly let him stay for the night.

**36. Sordid**

There is nothing dirty about the love that they have for each other: it is the cleanest, purest kind of love there is.

**37. Soliloquy**

He burns for Benvolio, brims with words of passion and love, but he thinks that if he ever speaks them they will be a soliloquy: one-sided, unreciprocated.

**38. Sojourn**

He promises himself that he'll only stay for five minutes, but somehow five minutes stretches into thirty, and thirty becomes an hour, and before to much longer it's too dark to go home, which means Benvolio and Mercutio have to find some way to entertain themselves.

**39. Share**

They share everything they have with one another: their food, their drink, their homes, and most importantly their hearts.

**40. Solitary**

Benvolio is never alone anymore: even when Romeo think that he is by himself, Mercutio is next to him the whole time.

**41. Nowhere**

They are getting absolutely nowhere on the issue of solving a complicated math problem Benvolio's tutor gave him, but Mercutio's hands are getting absolutely _everywhere_.

**42. Neutral**

It's hard to remain a neutral party when you hat a member of one house and love a member of the other.

**43. Nuance**

Most people can never tell when Mercutio is about to go into one of his rants, but Benvolio became skilled in reading the nuances of his lover a long time ago.

**44. Near**

Benvolio can always tell when Mercutio is near: he could smell the lingering scents of fine wine, citrus, and leather that cling to his lover a mile away.

**45. Natural**

The rest of Verona would call what they have strange and odd, but to them it is the most natural thing in the world.

**46. Horizon**

They watch the sunrise together after on of their secret meetings, and Mercutio swears that he can see their new life in each other rising with it.

**47. Valiant**

He makes a valiant effort to fight it, to keep the blackness decorating the edges of his vision at bay, but when he can't keep it up anymore, he cranes his neck and kisses Benvolio, because he wants the last thing he feels to be the blonde's lips on his.

**48. Virtuous**

Benvolio knows that Mercutio is not exactly the most virtuous person in Verona, but he trusts the brunette not to fool around with something as fragile as his heart.

**49. Victory**

Benvolio smiles in victory when he finally feels Mercutio give way under him, because he loves to feel Mercutio shiver under his touch.

**50. Defeat**

Mercutio has never been one to admit defeat, but maybe he'll let Benvolio win the battle and get on top, just this once…

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**_A/N: And there you have it! I hope you guys enjoyed this one! Please leave a review, and be sure to tell me which one was your favorite!_**


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